For the fourth time, Hashtag Lab invites audiences to AżTak Festival – a unique celebration of contemporary art, taking place this year from July 3–5, 2025, under the theme “Contemplation.” Events will be held at Hashtag Lab and the neighboring B383 Gallery. The organizers propose a moment of pause – an opportunity to experience the state of flow and moments of meditative immersion in both sound and visual art.
On the first day, the spotlight will be on the work of composer-in-residence Wojtek Blecharz. Hashtag Lab will transform into a sound laboratory. The program features a recital by Masashi Yamamoto (Japan), who will give the world premiere of Blecharz’s Axis.B for double bass and seven wireless speakers, as well as the spatial composition FIELD 6.O performed by Hashtag Ensemble. The concert will be preceded by a talk with the artists.
At the adjacent B383 Gallery, audiences can experience an immersive sound massage — literally stepping inside an instrument: the unique Sonora Sound Tube installation. An exhibition of works by Magdalena Lenartowicz will also be on view.
On July 4, the festival invites listeners on intercontinental sound journeys. Alongside Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble (Ireland), we’ll move from Colombia to Ireland, and from Poland to the United States. The program will include the world premiere of once again by Lena Michajłów, commissioned specially by Hashtag Ensemble.
Day three will be dedicated to creation. It will begin with a proposal for the youngest audiences as part of the “Ąsąbąble” children’s series. The premiere of Mycotones (2025) by Aleksandra Chmielewska, an eight-part work inspired by the fungal world, will be presented.
In the evening, for the first time in Poland, Hashtag Ensemble will perform Morton Feldman’s iconic Rothko Chapel. The program also features the world premiere of Tomba Emanuelle by Teoniki Rożynek, a piece inspired by the acoustics of the Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo. This monumental soundscape will be shaped through 22-channel electronics, 16 vocalists, and 6 instrumentalists. The concert will also be preceded by an artist talk.
Works by Wojtek Blecharz and Teoniki Rożynek were commissioned within the “Composers’ Commissions” program, run by the National Institute of Music and Dance.
The festival will close with Electro Ambient Night – an evening of live ambient music performed by Mateusz Śmigasiewicz and Tomek Mirt.
Hashtag Lab – the Contemporary Music Space – is co-financed by the City of Warsaw.
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund, as part of the “Music” program, carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.
The festival is made possible thanks to the support and collaboration of: B383 Art Space, Sonora Sound Tube, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Glissando, ZAiKS, STOART, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, Warsaw Stage Society, Polish Mycological Society, and the British Council.
AżTak Festival is supported by the British Council as part of the UK/Poland Season 2025.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC
Ticket information: https://hashtaglab.pl/event/aztak-festiwal-2/
